


"You're my bright eyes..." // HS one shot

by handalove



Category: Harry Styles - Fandom, One Direction, One Direction (Band)
Genre: 5SOS is kind of mentioned as well, Caroline and Kendall are mentioned as said love interests, F/M, Harry Styles - Freeform, Harry is a flirt, I know it's rated mature but I mean it doesn't include anything, I swear I don't hate them or anything, Lily and Harry are best friends, Lily and Luke kiss and stuff, Oh Cal is in this to as their manager, and Jade from Little Mix, but H&L don't pay attention, enjoy, gemma and her friend Chloe are also in the story, harry styles one shot, harry styles oneshot, harrystyles, harrystyles oneshot, he's a cutie okay, lily like a flower, no surprise, one direction - Freeform, onedirection, so they became a duo, the 1d boys are all in this story, their friends tease them about being like an old married couple, they are both singer/songwriters, they are friends with Harry and Lily, they perform together in coffee shops and small theaters around London
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-10 04:22:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1155018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/handalove/pseuds/handalove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*In which Lily and her best friend Harry are an indie/rock duo, struggling to find their voice in the music industry as well as in their relationship. It's one of those stories where they both like each other but won't admit it. Lily fortunately is not afraid to call him her bright eyes.*</p>
            </blockquote>





	"You're my bright eyes..." // HS one shot

Lily hadn't been able to sleep much lately. She'd lay in bed at night looking at her bare ceiling, pondering life. Pondering where she'd be in a few years, and thinking about her dreams that she felt helpless at completing. It wasn't quite a midlife crisis she was going through, no she was only 22 almost 23 and was way too young for that, but rather she was at a crossroads.  


She knew what career she wanted and she knew where she wanted her life to go in the next couple years.  


Her passion was music and she'd known she wanted to be a singer/ songwriter pretty much all her life. She never thought that she'd be in a duo though. Never expected it to happen until a few years ago when she was playing at a coffee shop on her campus and she noticed a boy sitting in at all of her shows. One day he apparently had the courage to talk to her, because she clearly didn't possess such courage, and he told her she had the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.  


She remembered staring at the guy like he had two heads and he let out this cute little chuckle thing as if he was nervous she was gonna tell him off.  


“Thanks- my gosh you're nice,” Lily remembered blurting out making the kind stranger laugh again, and even back then she knew she had fallen in love with his laugh, but she didn't really have time to think about his laugh because she was too busy staring at his eyes. “I'm Lily” she had blurted out again because that's usually what Lily did under pressure.  


“Oh I'm Harry,” Harry introduced himself and held out his hand.Harry remembered feeling especially giddy around this girl with the amazing voice. He had been thinking about talking to her for weeks now and finally he had found the courage to do so.  


“Harry? That's nice, but I think I'm gonna call you bright eyes instead.”  
Harry had never gotten that one before. He'd built up a few nicknames in his time due to his hair or dimples, etc., but he had never gotten one after knowing a girl for approximately ten seconds. Even then he knew it was going to be his favorite nickname for probably the rest of his life.  


Mostly Lily was shocked, from his words and from the way she was acting, so naturally that's why she let him take her out for a coffee- at a different coffee shop from the one she had performed it- and somehow they had just hit it off. Not in a dating kind of way or anything. Sure she was attracted to him. She could hardly believe he was real with his messy hair, and dimples, and green eyes, but they just fell into rhymtm with each other. Harry Styles was the best guy friend Lily had never grown up with and Lily O'Conner was the best girl friend Harry had wanted for awhile.  


They were both Uni students and fit comfortably in one another's lives. About a year after meeting they were renting a flat togther and in even less time than that they realized their voices sounded pretty damn good together. A few youtube videos later they were booking small gigs here and there, and at the time Lily thought this was really the start of something.  


Lily remembered when they'd stay up all night working on lyrics and trying to figure out how to form all the bar chords that seemed unmasterable. Mostly Lily taught Harry the chords though because she had been playing guitar all her life. Harry had never put his mind to it though before her, nowadays he was almost a pro.  


Harry and Lily would stay up drinking tea that Harry brewed himself and would pass around a jar of peanut butter with a spoon because according to Lily it gave them energy and Harry was always willing to try whatever as long as it was with her. Like the time he tried chocolate covered grasshoppers at that place down by the beach and Harry didn't even have the heart to tell her they were descusting.  


And when thinking back everything about their career thus far sounded alright and seemed pretty great, but instead of feeling satisfied Lily found herself with a struggling music career. And not only did she find herself struggling, but she found her best friend in the same boat. Which didn't make her feel any better.  


“We'll get our chance Lil, don't worry,” he told her, rubbing her back that time they came in second at their universities talent scout contest thing. The prize was only to record a demo, which frankly they could do in their room with their iMac, but still.  


Harry was extremely positive though, much more than she had ever been or could ever be. He was her rock, the only thing keeping her on course when she wanted to drop out of school to pursue this career full time. Harry explained that they needed something to fall back on, and that was the only reason she kept up with her studies.  


So Lily didn't exactly know what had changed her thought process, or why she was more concerned with the future. But suddenly she was. She could imagine a few more years going by and her being in the same place, and that terrified her.  


So at two a.m. on a Sunday night, Lily got up and grabbed the guitar from her room and took it out on the terrace of the flat her and Harry shared. She figured he wouldn't be able to hear her from out here, plus it was where she came to think. It seemed all she could do was think. Think about her life, think about what the next day held, but more importantly she was upset with herself because she had been thinking about Harry an awful lot.  


Lily had been thinking about their friendship status. More than often she asked herself why they had just automatically become friends. She couldn't help but wonder why they had just bypassed the whole talking about dating and what not. Not that she wanted to be, she didn't think so at least. She wasn't sure.  


She did know that she felt more jealous when a girl flirted with Harry and of course he flirted back. And Lily knew that Harry was a flirt, a big one, but it had never really bothered her before. Nowadays though she felt like gagging when a girl commented on how nice his hair was or asked if his eyes were green or blue because they seemed to change with the shirt he was wearing.  


When situations like that arose Lily would turn around and refrain from upchucking her lunch.  


But who was Harry to know it bothered Lily as much as it did, no he didn't know a thing because he was too busy being her friend and her friend first. Harry would not be that guy to jeopardize things and she knew all she wanted from him was a friend, she had even told him so.  


He distinctly remembered one night when the two of them had stayed up till dawn talking to one another. Lily had told him how she had always wanted a best guy friend to grow up with. To share everything with and kind of be the brother she never had. She expressed that he had in a way become that. She had thanked him for being such a great friend and it was then and there he wanted to tell her he could be more if it was okay with her. But she made it clear of how much she appreciated him as her best friend so why would he give that up not even a year yet knowing her. He figured things would change and they would get their chance to date or whatever, but almost five years later not a thing for them had changed.  


So there stood two friends with two similar outlooks on their relationship, but neither was willing to say a thing in fear they would ruin what they had.  
And all Lily knew was that her mind was currently so far crowded with thoughts that she couldn't even concentrate on her song she was trying to write in that moment as she strummed the strings quietly. And the silence was so loud out in the crisp air that she didn't hear the door slide open behind her.  


“Hiii,” Harry peeped quietly revealing himself behind the door after scaring her, with two cups on something warm in his grip. She'd surprised he didn't fall over when he tried to open the door. Harry was a clutz, he was.  


“My gosh you scared me,” she said and placed a hand over her heart, than set the guitar down, “I didn't mean to wake you.”  


“You didn't,” Harry grinned toothlessly and handed her a cup of what she found to be tea. She gave him a weird look and he spoke. “oh it's herbal tea. No caffeine so it won't keep you up,” he informed her and she almost rolled her eyes at his knowledge of the caffeine level in various teas.  


“So if I didn't wake you up why'd you decide to make tea at 2 am?” Lily questioned him.  


Harry seemed puzzled at that, but Lily knew it was because he was caught in a pickle, “fine you did wake me alright. I heard your door open,” he admitted.  


Lily nodded and sipped the tea that Harry knew perfectly how to prepare for her.  
“I'm sorry,” she replied.  


“Mhs fine Lil. So you couldn't sleep?” he asked, taking a seat beside her on the little bench thing they had. Their legs were only barely touching but Lily could feel the natural furnace that Harry was radiating towards her.  


“No...my heads just thinking,” she gulped.  


“You're always thinkng,” he reminded her and nudged her shoulder. She inclined her head towards him as if to say, 'see, he understands you.' He always understood her.  


“I know, one of these days I need to stop.” Lily sighed.  


;  


Most of Harry and Lily's free time was spent working on their songs and trying to promote their music. They had quite a following on Youtube, and that was mainly the reason they were able to book random coffee shops and small theatres around the London area.  


It was time consuming though, and they had been at this for years now. But one day they booked a gig at a larger theatre, so for weeks Harry and Lily spent their days passing the word around to friends and family, as well as strangers.  


“You'll be there right Gem?” Harry asked his sister one day when a group of their friends were all out for lunch. Harry remembered when he used to wonder why he hung out with his sister so much, but it was because she was a pretty cool chick.  


“Yes Harry oh course, but I'm only bringing along a few friends,” she informed him and his eyebrows lowered together in the middle. But maybe not as cool as he previously thought.  


“I'll be there as well Harry,” Niall pipped up, chugging back his soda. Harry looked at the blonde boy, completely ignoring him, and then back at his sister.  


“Gemma...I know you have a steady string of friends, why are you holding out on us?” he accused his sister. This earned a laugh from Liam and Louis but Lily was much too amune to Harry's accusations. He was always trying to act like a tough guy but he was far from it. Lily remembered the time he accidentaily killed a mouse in the park. He made them have a full on funeral for it after burying it in a nearby field that Harry said must have been the mouse's home. Lily was still having nightmares about seeing the little mouse lying there on its back.  


“Don't listen to grumpy pants here, a few friends is fine Gemma,” Lily replied, putting a hand on his shoulder as she shook her head, making Harry slump in his chair next to Lily. She was always hendering his fun.  


Gemma smiled and sipped the colorful cocktail she had been drinking. “I only drink when I'm with characters, like him,” she had told the girls of the group while she pointed to her brother. Lily couldn't judge though because she had had her fair amount of drinks because of Harry also.  


Lily was used to meeting with Harry's sister as well as their list of close friends. Harry had mostly been friends with all of them and it took no time at all for Lily to be included in the group.  


There were the girls of the group; Lily, Gemma, Jade, Chloe. Chloe was Gemma's best girlfriend and close friend of the family. She was alot like Gemma and Lily liked that because Gemma was one of the best people she had ever met.  


Jade had originally been friends of one of the guys girlfriends but she hit it off with particulary Niall and Lily and had been included into the rest of the group.  


The guys consisted of, Harry, Liam, Louis, Zayn, and Niall.  


Niall was pretty much the loudest of their little group, with his bubbly personality and impeccible social skills. Harry and Niall had hit it off in college and it was no surprise because they both were pretty chatty and social people.  


Zayn was the quiet one of the group, choosing to sit and listen to most that was being said around him rather than overpowering his talkative friends. He was an art student, a grade higher than Lily and he was the most unique in the group.Also if it wasn't for him, Lily would have been doned the shy one, so she let him take that title with proud.  


At first Liam was the most reserved and most sensible person Lily had ever met. She admitted she had a crush on him at first and they even kissed one night in the alley of a bar but Liam instantly said sorry and they never spoke of it again. Nowadays things weren't awkward at all but Lily always noted when Liam had a new hairdo or was sporting a new style. Sometimes the others gave him a hard time about it but she always stood on his side. Liam and Zayn had went to school together and met Harry somehow.  


And then there was Louis who was the undeclared leader of them, being both loud and silent when need be, and also not being afraid to state his opinion on things or of the others. He was the one who always set up their hang outs and meet ups. Louis and Gemma were friends and once she had introduced him to Harry they just about ran off and got married. (But Lily only said that because she was sure that Louis and Harry had a thing going before she was friends with them).  


The ten of them going out for lunch or going out for a night on the town was very common. Something that was also common was how many snide comments Lily recieved from the guys of the group.  


“My gawd why don't you two get married already?” Niall said when Lily informed Harry that he shouldn't order anymore nachos. Harry pouted for about a minute before he was on to laughing really hard at something Chloe said.  


Lily had learned to dimiss comments like that because usually they were just joking at the way Harry and her acted like an old married couple. That's just how close they were though. 'It's not completely normal though Lily, I mean I don't know,' Jade told Lily one day when she started noticing how Harry and Lily would finish each others sentences. 'I don't know what you're talking about,' Lily said, dismissing the issue. And with that, it wasn't brought up again by her, but instead by the guys.  


“Are you guys playing any new songs tonight?” Liam asked, because he was always interested in the new elements they would bring to their performance. Lily found it weird at first but she was used to it now.  


“Um...Lily wrote a new one recently, were we gonna play it tonight?” Harry asked nudging Lily's elbow so her chip with salsa almost dropped from her hand. Lily gave him a look and he tried not to laugh.  


“I already said I don't like the guitar pergression, remember?” she said and he nodded.  


“Perfectionist this one,” Harry said, jabbing his thumb in the air towards her.  


“Well you can count on us being there tonight mate,” Louis said and put his arms around Zayn and Niall. Harry nodded but noticed Zayn making a face. Louis caught on and hit him on the shoulder.  


“Have you got something to say Zayney?” Louis asked crossing his arms, kind of putting  


“No just...is it alright if I bring someone,” Zayn asked earning cat calls from Jade and Chloe as well as from Niall and Liam.  


“Of course it's alright,” Lily answered for the two of them because Harry was still making kissy faces at Zayn who was simply ignoring them all. Lily was upset she hadn't learned how to do that yet.  


The group all chatted for a bit more because Harry and Lily explained they needed to get going to start getting everything together for their performance tonight.  


Harry and Lily went straight home and practiced a few of their original songs to perform. Lily had her reservations about why they shouldn't introduce certain songs into their setlist, but Harry usually wanted to sing them all.  


He had too many favorites that he was usually sad they couldn't perform them all. Plus they usually did a few covers and he always had a list of like twenty songs he wanted to try to learn.  


“Why don't you want to sing that new acoustic one?” Harry asked her as she pulled the guitar strap over her.  


“I just...the opening guitar part doesn't sound good yet,” she told him and he groaned because that was his part, “I didn't mean you don't sound good..playing the part, it's just-”  


“I get you, alright then let's sing 'little things' from the top,” Harry shouted and started tapping his foot to the beat. Lily had no time to reply before she was playing the guitar as Harry's voice started out the song.  


An hour later they had gathered up their equipment they would be taking to their performance that night. It turned out to be one of their biggest crowds yet and Harry literally couldn't stop smiling the whole show.  


“Hello everyone, thanks for coming out,” Harry said into the microphone after they played their first song and Lily kept up guitar as Harry spoke. This was the usually way things went and Lily always liked to watch Harry and the way he was with the crowd. He was a natural, was so good at talking and being on stage. He was born for it really. It was the area she lacked in and she knew, that some sort of weird fate, had brought them together in order to complete each other performance wise.  


“This is our second song, called 'Moments', which we wrote together,” Harry said gesturing to Lily and himself, “we kind of write all our songs though.”  


This earned a few laughs and mixed clapping and Lily was waiting for the cue to start the song, but knowing Harry he would just go on and on talking with the crowd.  


“Hope you enjoy the song,” he said and stepped back from the mic, but a second later his eyes grew and he rushed back up, “oh...and we're Harry & Lily.”  


More laughs and applause was heard and Lily giggled, eyes on Harry as he walked over to her and then back to his mic to start singing the song.  


It was her favorite experience thus far, being on stage playing for a responsive crowd. It was a moment Lily wanted to keep reliving over and over, and she wished that she could.  


It was her favorite thing to just be up there and watch Harry. It was her weakness she had realized. Sure she loved to play the songs she wrote and have people listen to them. That was what drove her to pour her heart into every song she wrote. But it was something completely different to watch a person she cared about undoubtablly having the time of his life.  


It felt so effortless, being up there beside him. It wasn't a hassle or a chore. It was a type of euphoria, being all smiles and having the time of her life up there with her best friend. It made it even better that Harry felt the same exact way.  


After they thanked the crowd and said their goodbyes, congragulations came from all their friends and Lily felt on top of the world.  


“I think I want to do this for the rest of my life Lil,” Harry said as they entered the chilly London air after packing up everything and greeting a few people.  


“Yeah? I do to,” she breathed, watching her cold breath leave a mark in the air like she had just let out a puff of smoke. Lily knew she wanted to do this, forever and ever. She leaned against the old brick hall and shut her eyes for a moment, imagining what she had to do to always feel like this.  


“I want it to be with you though,” Harry spoke and Lily's breath caught inside her. Instead of ruining her response with her jumbled up words though she just smiled. Smiled because Harry just had a way with words, even if he wasn't aware of it.  


“I'd like that,” Lily finally responsed, because it was the truth.  


;  


Lily assumed maybe Harry had just been in the moment that night though, and perhaps it was due to the small crowd that night, but she felt dizzy as she watched as Harry walked a girl to her car after their gig. And Lily couldn't say this was a new thing. Harry was obviously a hit with the ladies, that was not a surprise to anyone. It had been this way ever since Lily had known Harry. He was easy on the eyes, he was a good flirter, so naturally he had girls lined up to chat with him. But it was different around Lily. He was different around her. He didn't have to act a certain way around Lily, she knew the real him and he knew he was free to be himself.  


So Lily told herself she was used to all this, but really she wasn't. And she wasn't because in this particular situation, she had seen this girl before. The girl was always hanging around after some of their shows trying to get handsy with Harry, being the gentlemen he was he hardly ever responded to her though.  


“Was that what's her face again?” Lily asked as she closed up her guitar case and stood up, tucking her light brown hair over her shoulder.  


Harry watched it cascade over her sweater and then looked at her eyes, “what was that dove?” he asked, a bit thrown off by her waterfall locks.  


Lily took in a breath at the pet name Harry randomly used for her. It was short for 'love dove', and yeah it was a bit weird, but he claimed he needed a name for her since she called him bright eyes. She regained composer and asked her question again.  


“Her name's Caroline, yeah.” he commented.  


Lily made a noise that Harry hardly understood and kept on packing up. Harry knew it was better to just drop things like this instead of pressing the issue with her.  


Minutes later they were walking out the back door putting their things into Harry's silver mini cooper. On a normal day she would have asked to drive it, because it was adorable and all that, but she hurriedly got into the passenger seat and sat there quietly for a bit.  


“Do you think we uh-need to do more promo and stuff?” Lily eventually asked on the ride home. Her head was still spinning and usually she talked to Harry when she felt like this, but she couldn't figure out what else was bothering her.  


“I guess we could, we could put a new video up,” Harry suggested knowing they hadn't put up a video on Youtube in awhile.  


“Okay, we can edit tomorrow if-”  


“As long as it's before the evening, I'm talking Caroline out,” Harry spoke softly, but he sounded as if it was nothing. Lily took a breath in and tried not to feel angry, but she could feel the angry spreading through her, and it never used to be like that. Lily wasn't even an angry person to begin with. It was all Harry's fault.  


“Okay I'll just do it,” Lily mumbled making Harry turn to her. He heard the tone in her voice, heard it change, he always noticed when something about her changed.  


“I'll help, it'll just have to be before like five or so.”  


“Fine,” Lily said and crossed her arms. She didn't mean to sound or act like a little girl, but that was the only thing she thought to do.  


Harry thought about reaching over for her hand and thought maybe telling her his time with Caroline was harmless, but he figured it would just confuse things and probably make Lily more upset than she already was. And though he hated to make her feel like it, there was nothing he could do that would please her.  


;  


So maybe Harry had lied. Maybe his time with Caroline wasn't exactly harmless.  


His text went off with a message from her and he used to smile when he saw her reaching out to chat with him, but lately had felt a bit annoyed. And than he felt rude.  


He genuinely liked spending time with her. She was a pretty girl and knew how to have a good time. But she was a bit of a snob, and it had taken him a bit to see that because being the good guy he is Harry would never label someone something bad from the get-go. But there was no other word, Caroline was a snob.  


She never wanted to hang out with Harry's friends. Never wanted to go to any of the places he liked to hang out. Oh, and he didn't even want to get her started on Lily.  


At the beginning it was easy because she was a genuinely funny person, but he felt pretty horrid about the fact that he was using her.  


Lily, of course, couldn't see the conflict going on in Harry's mind though, because all she knew was he was spending a lot more time with her than what he was used to. Lily knew the fact that Caroline was a bit older than Harry was enough for him to know their little hang outs were wrong, but she'd never tell Harry. It was his life, so who was she to tell him he was living it wrong.  


And maybe just maybe Lily was fitting the urge even more to tell Harry that she couldn't stand Caroline. Because she really couldn't. Of course it would be wrong to tell Harry that though, so she decided she wouldn't.  


“Will you stop staring daggers at the girl?” Chloe asked, nudging Lily's shoulder. Lily pretended to not really hear her and turned to look at the guys all huddled around the pool table.  


“That was an ace shot bro,” Liam called out, clapping Zayn on the back. They had been playing pool for only twenty minutes and Niall had managed to knock the ball off the table, twice.  


“Haven't even played since I was little,” he laughed and Lily looked away as Caroline and Harry walked over to them. They had been standing off to the side for a while now, and Lily had noted that Caroline did not seem really happy.  


Harry was trying to ignore the fact that Caroline had been making faces ever since he surprisingly brought her to Niall's house for game night that he hosted monthly, or just whenever he felt like semi cleaning up his rented apartment and inviting people over. He usually just invited people over though.  


“So Caroline, seen any good films lately?” Gemma asked, swirling her chair around to look at the girl with her brother. The one she was still confused as to why he was spending so much time with.  


“Yeah...saw a really scary one the other day,” she said, looking weirdly at Harry.  


“Oh you saw it after all?” Harry asked, trying to make small talk.  


“Yeah...had to bring a friend along since you didn't want to come,” Caroline told him pretending to be annoyed, but Lily was sure she really was.  


“Something came up, sorry,” Harry said and Lily chewed on her lip.  


“Have you seen any good scary movies lately Lily?” Zayn asked. Lily turned to glare at him and he had that little smile on his face that made his eyes crinkle at the edges. Lily knew he was gonna have crow's feet when he started to age, but even then she knew he would age gracefully, like a Calvin Klein model.  


“No...” she whispered, hoping no one would may much attention to her. But when she looked back over Caroline was clearly staring at her.  


“That's cause Lily hates horror films, isn't that right Lily? Oh and so does Harry,” Niall blurted out making Lily want to punch him.  


Niall's words made Harry freeze and Caroline obviously had seen him.  


“Oh...is that true Harry?” she asked and being the man he was Harry confessed the truth.  


“No..I love scary movies,” he lied, all while trying to make his face look extremely excited. So maybe fessing up wasn't Harry's best option.  


“Come on, why don't we all play a game of pool,” Liam suddenly shouted making everyone look over at him. Lily wanted to hug him for breaking the awkward tension, and Harry wanted to hug him as well for getting him off the hook.  


Soon everyone had gone over to play and Caroline had no choice but to go right along.  


;  


It was one of those weeks where Harry felt him and Lily were running a millions miles per hour. Harry realized they were slowly but surely attracting more people and they now had a wider array of venues.  


“We need to go on one of those talent scout things,” Harry suggested one day over lunch with Lily, at her favorite Chinese restaurant in London to be specific.  


“That sort of thing only produces boy bands and pop stars,” she informed him with a scrunched up nose, but it was true though. Or maybe it was just a stereotype.  


Harry shrugged, “I bet I could be one.” Lily wanted to roll her eyes because Harry was never one for specifics. She narrowed her eyes as she chewed a piece of orange chicken thoroughly, so she wouldn't choke.  


“Be a popstar I mean,” Harry elaborated and Lily nodded because she could see it. His looks definitely were enough for him to go far with, his voice was just an incentive. He couldn't dance though, Lily knew that for a fact. She knew this to be true when he tried to dance with her at his Mom's wedding. She had bruises that stayed for weeks from his huge feet stepping on her that night. So that may put a damper in Harry's true dreams.  


“With that face, yeah...” she sort of said out loud and it was Harry who obviously didn't chew his Chinese food all the way because the sound he made in his throat had Lily wondering if she should give him the hem-lick maneuver. Which she knew how to give when she babysat in her teenage years.  


“What's my face got to do with it?” Harry asked, wiping his mouth with a paper napkin, which he set beside his Chinese take out container and tried not to eye her food. He regretted getting beef broccoli instead of orange chicken even though he didn't want to admit it.  


“Everything. You've got a nice face so it'd be easy for you to, ya know, whoo people, girls in particular.” She wanted to add a gagging noise for effect but Harry still looked a bit confused, so she opted against it.  


“That's a compliment, isn't it?” he asked as the dots started to connect themselves.  


Lily hadn't meant to give one, but she figured it was of course one. “I guess yeah,” she mumbled, slurping up her chow mien, and Harry smiled because he had never seen a girl be more comfortable around him when she ate. Though Gemma and his mum got the second and third place. And it wasn't that Lily ate like this was going to be her last meal or anything, she just genuinely enjoyed food.  


“You don't give me a lot of those,” Harry said feeling small, which did make Lily roll her eyes.  


“That's not true.”  


“Okay okay, like you comment when you like my shirt or whatever, but frankly you picked the shirt out so of course you'd like them and-”  


“Harry Harry...I may not always give you compliments out loud, but I think them quite often.” Lily admitted since she was already spilling her guts with confessions.  


“Oh yeah?” Harry asked, refraining from eating to listen to her.  


“Yup...” Lily told him, continuing to nod until he understood her point. But all of a sudden, after a few moments of just eating, Harry spoke.  


“Oh hey...I have something to tell you that you'll like,” he said, and Lily continued to eat her noodles, “I'm not friends with Caroline anymore,”  


Her mouth dropped open, nearly to her plate and she felt her eye balls were just about to pop out when he spoke as if it was no big deal at all. But it was a huge deal.  


“What?”  


“We got in an argument and I said we should end..whatever we had going on,” he continued to explain, struggling to find his words because he wasn't even sure how to say what he needed to tell Lily. Plus when he looked at her she still looked incredibly confused or relieved. Harry wasn't really sure.  


“Oh my gosh...” Lily breathed out.  


“It's alright, to be honest I just felt guilty,” Harry tried to say, mostly to relieve his own mind.  


“Whyyy?”  


Guilty was something that Lily felt Harry should not be feeling at all, but him having the huge heart he had Lily knew there was something more to the reason why he didn't want Caroline in his life anymore. All Lily could do was stare at him as he ate his food casually, much too casually for the situation at hand.  


“Cause I was just hanging out with her because her dad is part of the booking committee at one of those big West End theaters, she had said she could book us,” he mumbled while munching his food, causing Lily's mouth to fall open once again. Harry of course was still just talking, not really taking note of how Lily was reacting.  


“You-you never told me that,” Lily blurted out setting her fists on the table a bit harshly, but Harry simply kept talking over her.  


“But all she wanted me to do was sleep with her and-”  


Lily didn't even want to address the words that Harry had just said, so she pretended she hadn't heard them, “You never told me her dad worked there?”  
“Really?” Harry asked, finally looking up at her, “I'm sure I mentioned it to you...”  


“No, no you didn't.” Lily confirmed. Harry just shrugged and stole an orange chicken off her plate, feeling satisfied with himself for having done it. He knew Lily would not have given him any if he would have asked, only because he hadn't ordered the orange chicken himself.  


“Hmmm,” he mumbled, looking up towards the sky as if lost in thought. When secretly he was just enjoying the burst of flavors going off in his mouth.  


“So you were just using her?” Lily asked, leaning in closer to him. Harry looked angry all of a sudden.  


“Don't say it like that..geeze!” Harry gawked.  


“You should have told me, I would not have been mad about you hanging out with her if I would have known-”  


“So you were mad,” Harry simply stated, instead of asking, cutting Lily off mid sentence.  


“What?” she asked, playing dumb, and she swore she was just acting.  


“You didn't like me hanging out with her, huh?” Harry asked, wiggling his eyebrows.  


“Well...no,” Lily mumbled, tucking her hair behind her ear.  


“I knew it, you were jealous, weren't you?” Harry concluded with triumph.  


“I didn't say that-”  


“Jealous she was taking me away from you,” Harry persisted on, because there was no stopping him once he had something planted in his brain. Plus he liked to see Lily a bit uncomfortable, but only if he was the reason for it. In this case he was very much at fault.  


“Harry that's not it-”  


“Well don't worry dove, she could never take me away,” he said touching her hand across the table.  


“Can we just change the subject?” Lily said, recoiling her hand when his palm grazed her skin. Physical contact was the last thing she needed right now.  


“That's cute, that you were jealous,” Harry said batting his eyelashes, which also wasn't helping Lily deal with things.  


“Harryyy,” Lily started to whine.  


“You should write a song about that,” he said all of a sudden feeling excited.  


Lily rolled her eyes because Harry always answered with 'hey write a song about this or that' every time she experienced something or went through something. It upset her though because mostly it was things brought on by him. Things she didn't exactly want to write and then have him hear. Not that Harry would probably even know if a song was written about him or not. It was probably the last thing Harry expected from her.  


“Can we just-here, eat the rest of mine,” Lily said, pushing her plate towards him after concluding she wasn't hungry anymore.  


“You're the best!” Harry announced happily after asking and making sure she was sure with giving him her food. When she promised him she was finished he took her chopsticks and stabbed a piece of chicken.  


“Ya know, we should write a song about orange chicken as well,” Harry suggested and though Lily wanted to be utterly annoyed with him right now due to how cutely he was just sitting there eating his food, she rolled her eyes and let out a laugh. And maybe it was feelings like this that were meant to be written into a song.  


;  


Months later, Lily and Harry were busy playing at every club they could book.  


This was familar for them and was the most routine thing Lily had ever known. Lily would start out on guitar and Harry would start singing first. Then she would join in and they'd alternate signing through the set of songs they usually performed. Towards the end Harry would either take over on guitar or accompany her.  


On a specific Saturday night they were approached by a few people after their performance who told them they had done a great job and asking for their youtube name and all of that. But that same night a young man came up to them with more to say than a simple great job.  


“I know my brother would want to hear you guys,” a gentlemen named Steve told them who explained that his brother Cal worked for Capital records and that he knew his brother would be interested in their sound.  


Lily could hardly contain her excitement, so thankfully Harry was there to grip her arm when she wanted to jump up and down, and thankfully he still had his head on his shoulders to communicate with this guy and actually figure out details. It then occured to Lily that this guy may be a dud and that put a bit of a damper on her happy dance, but he seemed legit.  


“Here's his card, and mine as well. I'll give him a call right now to tell him about you guys and I'm sure you'll hear from him sometime this week,” Steve said, handing them a business card from his wallet.  


“That sounds great, thank you so much,” Harry said, shaking the man's hand once again.  


“Thank you very much,” Lily added with a big smile.  


They exchanged contact information and on the ride home Lily even stalked Steve on Twitter and Instagram.  


“Well he isn't lying, his brother is a record exect,” she confirmed, briefly showing Harry a tweet from Steve's twitter to his brother.  


“That's good,” Harry smiled.  


“What if this is the real deal Haz?” Lily asked him trying not to get too worked up, but she couldn't help it. Things like this hardly ever happened to her and she knew they only needed a chance, a chance to show they had the talent and the drive to become something.  


“I hope it is Lily, God I hope it is,” Harry said and out of no where he reached over and grabbed her hand from atop her lap. He squeezed it in his grip and Lily nearly dropped her phone.  


They arrived back to their place and Lily literally felt like jumping on the couches. Instead she sat down and thought about how to let out some of her bubbling excitement. Harry walked into the room with his own solution.  


“What are you doing?” Lily asked as Harry set two wine glasses down on the coffee table and was already in the process of popping a wine bottle open.  


“Celebrating,” he stated simply, all while juggling everything in his large hands. In the very beginning Lily used to just stare at his hands, especially when he pointed at things. She'd like to think she'd gotten better, but she really hadn't. Nearly ever time he pointed at something in a store or when they were cooking and he asked her to bring him whatever ingredient he was pointing to on the shelf, ever time she would stare a bit at his fingers and then snap herself into action. So in reality she was probably getting worse.  


“Harry, nothing is even official, we shouldn't be celebrating quite yet,” she admitted chewing on her lip. Though she wanted to celebrate she didn't want to get her hopes up because many times too often that just led to disappointment. All Harry did was groan and pour her glass even higher to the brim.  


“It's a step closer though, is it not?” Harry claimed and Lily nodded. She had to admit he was right. This was more progress they had made since they started playing in theaters rather than on street corners. So she had to see the difference here, and Harry knew she did, she was just being careful. Lily was always cautious and she hardly took chances. She'd been that way ever since Harry met her. He wondered if in another life she was as fearless as they came.  


Lily sighed softly, watching him come sit on the coffee table in front of her as he held his glass out, “then it's worth celebrating Lil.”  


“Okay fine,” she gave in and they clicked their glasses together then took a sip. Harry watched Lily and Lily watched Harry as they sat there quietly for a few moments. Lily took another sip and hoped this was some sort of fate they had stumbled upon. She hoped they were headed in a positive direction and hoped this was the start of something great.  


Two hours later Lily didn't even have a care in the world. She gripped onto the railing of the staircase and was bent over laughing as Harry nearly fell down the steps.  


“Woahhh,” he gasped, “I almost hurt myself, is-not funny Lil!” Harry shouted holding a pile of blankets and pillows in his grip. Lily could just barely see his hair and eyes peaking from over the mountain in his hands. She knew the load Harry was carrying plus his clumsiness wasn't even the issue though, it was the fact that they had already finished the new bottle of wine between the two of them and Harry had cracked open a beer a few minutes ago when he got the bright idea to build a fort downstairs.  


Lily wasn't sure if she was drunk or even if Harry was, though Harry probably was, but Lily sure was feeling good. Feeling so good she could not stop laughing at everything that happened. Not when Harry caught every single M&M she tossed across the couch at him, not when they belted out High School Musical songs because she had forgotten they were on her iPod, and certainly not when Harry told his thousandth knock knock joke that night. At any other time in her life Lily would have slapped him for telling such un funny jokes, but tonight she was estatic.  


“Sorryyyy,” Lily giggled even more and moved out of the way so he wouldn't knock her over with the pile in his arms.  


“In the foyer?” he asked sounding extra British as he walked towards the front door.  
“No no, the TV room,” Lily said and grabbed his shoulders, turning him the other way.  


Lily and Harry attempted to build a fort in the living room, but it was pretty disastrous from the start. So they ditched that and played loud music from the record player Harry's Dad had given him and ate all the oreo cookies they had in the cupboard.  


Eventually, early in the morning Lily's laughter had ceased and they ended up laying on the living room floor staring at the light the TV casted onto the wall in the darkened room.  


“This blanket is soft,” Harry mumbled reaching his hand out beside him and stroking whatever had wrapped around his hand. Lily didn't even feel the tug on her hair.  


“That's my hair Harry,” Lily realized with her eyes closed because they felt awfully heavy.  


“Mhs bad,” he sighed and turned over onto his side to look at his friend. He curled the pillow up under his head and even from this weird angle she looked like a girl in a really nice painting. And maybe it was the wine talking and whatever kind of brand that last beer of his was, but he figured if a girl is this easy on the eyes perhaps she should know.  


Lily popped one eye open and grinned at him because he was giving her a weird look, “what's up?”  


“You're pretty Lil...” Harry breathed out and Lily didn't even feel nervous by his words. Instead she turned her head to get a better look at him and hummed. Harry was fond on giving her compliments when he had had a few drinks, but she couldn't remember the last time he had given her one. Yeah he was always pointing out her hair looked nice or he liked her outfit, but he rarely just came out and point blank said she was pretty.  


“Pretty like a flower,” Harry spoke again and reached his fingers out so he could touch her face.  


“You're pretty good looking yourself, bright eyes,” Lily commented feeling her eyes flutter shut again as he tickled her face with his soft fingertips.  


“If we kiss do you think we'll remember in the morning?” Harry asked his voice quivering only a bit.  


Harry's words didn't surprise Lily as much as they should have. They had come close to making out before and had sort of touched each other on Harry's birthday one year, but tonight she was more delirious than anything. She half expected she'd start laughing again if he tried to kiss her.  


“Harry, I'm not even drunk,” Lily told him just so if they had to look back she could at least told him she had warned him.  


“Well I'm buzzed,” Harry said and pulled himself over onto his stomach and onto his elbows, “-so come here.”  


“Harry-what are you-no,” Lily said and pushed herself back when he started leaning towards her, his lips puckered.  


“Come onnnnnn,” Harry whined, “I haven't kissed a girl in like a year,” he admitted though Lily wasn't sure if he was lying or not. He'd been out with a few girls over the last year, so she couldn't see how he could have been telling the truth.  


“I'm sure you have, you were probably just drunk and don't remember. Like how you won't remember about me tomorrow morning,” Lily reminded him and his face was all scrunched together like he was trying to understand her words but he just couldn't. But he was trying to make sense of her logic, it just hurt his head when he had to think.  


“I'll remember if it's with you,” he shot back not feeling confused about that at all.  
Lily blew a raspberry with her mouth, “don't think I want you to remember to be honest.”  


“Fine then I won't,” Harry said making her groan, “just one kiss Lil, I can fuckin smell your chap-stick from here.”  


Lily rubbed her lips together, forgetting she had applied chap-stick a few minutes ago when she magically found it in her back pocket.  


“Fine, one kiss, and you don't have to curse,” Lily said and set herself on her elbows behind her. Harry smiled pretty large and closed the little space that had been between them.  


Lily had kissed Harry before, if little pecks counted and a kiss under the mistletoe one year in front of Harry's family. But Lily didn't have a good memory of any kiss that was better than this one.  


Harry held her face between his large hands and slowly but surely she was pushed back to the floor, lying there as Harry nipped at her lips, slipping his tongue inside.  


Now Lily had kissed guys before, but she was no where near as experienced as Harry. And she knew that. They both knew that, but to Harry it seemed Lily had been kissing all her life. She wrapped a hand to the back of his hair and Harry knew he'd remember every single detail of the things Lily did to him.  


For moments their lips meshed against each others and Lily knew she should have pushed Harry away when his lips trailed down her neck, but she just didn't have the strength against him.  


Finally when one of his hands ran along the waistband of her pants she pushed a hand against his chest.  


“Calm down there tiger,” Lily said while trying to catch her breath.  


Harry kept his face there buried in her neck and nudged her skin with his nose. He was quiet for a moment and Lily didn't dare move, not knowing what he was going to say.  


“Lil, if we get married one day I'd be a happy man,”he spoke, and it sounded so weird hearing his voice in the air rather than their staggered breathing.  


“You're so mushy when you're drunk,” Lily informed him and he laughed once, pulling himself up and away from her.  


“You wouldn't be happy?” he asked sounding sad as he laid back down on the cushions. Lily opted for sitting up against the couch.  


“Oh I'd be a happy man too. Would we have kids?” She asked just cause she could. But mostly just because she wanted to hear what he would say. Often times she'd ask Harry all sorts of questions just awaiting his responses when the alcohol was talking.  


“Course- how many you want?” Harry asked holding his hands up in the air as if to use his fingers to count.  


“Fifteen,” Lily joked and Harry made a gasping sound with his throat.  


“Damn...we better get started Lily!” Harry said raising his voice as he sat up really quickly and started grabbing for her.  


“No no, I'm just kidding...you need to get some sleep,” Lily pointed out and Harry started smacking her hands away when she did the same.  


“Sleep does sound good,” Harry said after a loud yawn. And Lily couldn't agree more.  


“You want to race up the stairs?...Please say no,” Harry said climbing to his feet. Lily smiled because at least once a week they raced to their separate rooms. It wasn't kiddish at all.  


“Let's just sleep here,” Lily said and it took Harry a second before he was laying back down, pulling blankets over him.  


Lily did the same and turned the TV off. They laid there in silence for a bit before Harry's husky voice broke through.  


“Can we spoon?”  


“Just sleep Harry,” Lily told him and he said goodnight before rolling over so he wasn't facing her anymore  


Lily must have been tired, because she feel asleep pretty instantly.  


Millions of thoughts hit her the next morning though when she woke up and found Harry's arms around her.  


Lily attempted to move and release herself of the sleeping boys warm grip that next morning, but she couldn't move an inch. She pushed an arm away from him but when he nudged and mumbled something she froze. She stared at his closed eyes and just about jumped when they popped open.  


“Good morning,” he muttered, his morning raspy voice in full effect making Lily almost hurt inside.  


“Hi,” Lily said and took the chance to pull herself up away from him and off the ground.  


“I'm gonna make some tea, want some?” she asked straightening out the jeans she had slept in.  


“Nah..I'm gonna go take a shower,” Harry said rubbing his forehead.  


“Okay,” Lily said and watched him walk out of the room, running a hand through his hair in the process.  


So Lily and Harry went on their separate ways to different parts of the apartment and it seemed in a way they made a secret mental agreement to not talk about the last night with each other. But that didn't stop them from thinking about it.  


;  


That next week Harry and Lily practically lived by their phones, praying and hoping they would get a call from Steve's brother the record exec guy. Lily had terrible patience and Harry was usually pretty good about it, but he had been having an attitude lately when it came to things like this.  


“He should have never said he was gonna call,” he complained Monday night over dinner. Lily explained they had the whole rest of the week to get a call but Harry muttered something mean and ate his broccoli.  


On Wednesday morning they received that very call and Lily had to take the call because Harry couldn't even talk. His mouth kept opening and closing when he had answered and he shoved the phone over to her.  


After talking with the man named Cal for almost ten minutes, they had scheduled a meeting with Capitol Records the following Saturday.  
“I knew I liked this Cal guy,” Harry grinned looking off into space. If only Lily would have know.  


They were given instructions on where to go and what to wear and a follow up email would be sent to them as a reminder of the instructions.  


The rules were pretty strict, things like no open toed shoes and no clothing above the knee, which really put a damper in the outfit Harry wanted to wear. But besides thinking about what she would wear, Lily was pretty happy about the whole thing. Though that didn't allow for her to not feel the nerves creeping their way in as the day got closer.  


For that next week and a half, Lily and Harry were walking on a cloud. Lily could hardly concentrate on her school work and neither could Harry. He also was very well near quitting his part time job at the coffee bean down the street.  


“I almost spilled coffee on a girl the other day because I was singing our song and she said she liked it,” Harry stressed, looking up from his cell phone.  


“Was she cute at least?” Lily asked and she watched him shrug as he was clearly trying to remember.  


“I suppose, but I don't think she would have been with coffee on her white shirt.”  


The morning of the meeting Lily was running around with her head chopped off. Though she had had her outfit set out the night before, she still managed to change nearly everything she had planned to wear, as well as her makeup and shoes.  


“Lily, can you come here?” Harry yelled out from his bedroom. Lily rolled her eyes and adjusted the strap on her shoe before standing up and walking towards her door.  


“Why?” She called out as she pushed open his door to find him there scurrying around in only black jeans. She blew a breath out when seeing his bare upper half and stood in the doorway for a bit. He must had been going to the gym without telling her, not that she had noticed the results or anything.  


“I don't know what I should wear, something fancy?” Harry asked more to himself as he hurried over to his closet.  


“Harry we have to leave in like five minutes,” Lily said looking at her watch. Harry yanked the hangers off the rack and nodded because obviously he knew when they had to leave but that bit of information wouldn't help him pick out a shirt to wear.  


“Just help me pick- wow, Lily you look, nice...okay help me choose a shirt,” Harry said stopping when he glanced over at Lily for the first time, seeing her there in a maroon dress and higher heels than she usually wore when they went out. Her hair was curled at the ends and her eyes had some sort of sparkles around them. Harry thought she always looked pretty, but she looked extra good in that outfit.  


“Thanks uh...what about that new navy blue button up?” Lily said and walked over to his closet, her heels clicking on the wood flooring. Lily was sure she knew his closet better than Harry did, only because she really liked his style and appreciated a guy who had a unique one. She was always buying him shirts she knew he'd like and it was totally normal for her to go shopping on her own for both of them.  


“Perfect,” Harry agreed and ripped it off the hanger. He pulled it on and ran a hand over his hair, “Okay, I'm ready.”  


Lily smiled and started heading downstairs. Harry was right behind her until he realized he'd forgotten his phone upstairs.  


“I'll be in the car,” she announced and walked out the door, she could barely get in she was shaking so bad.  


When Harry climbed into the driver seat Lily shook her head when she looked over his attire.  


“Why are you even wearing a shirt if you're not gonna button it all the way?” Lily asked making Harry laugh as he pulled onto the street.  


“That's how I like it Lil,” he replied glancing over at her. He felt like repeating how nice she looked, especially when he saw her rubbing her red lips together. But he restrained and tried to take her mind off of the meeting because he knew she was nervous.  


Harry opted to tell knock-knock jokes the whole ride there.  


;  


That first meeting proved to be the most overwhelming. Harry and Lily met with more important people than they could ever remember all the names of. She did remember Steve's brother name though. His name was Cal and she knew he would be their manager if they were offered a record deal. Lucy also knew that she felt way too scared of this new venture.  


“Lil, I think they have to kind of scare us, ya know-to test us, see if we can make it,” Harry said. They had only been home for about ten minutes but Harry had already changed out of his more formal clothes and was already boiling a pot of water to make pasta.  


“So what...they inform us of all the negative aspects of getting a record deal before they actually offer us one?” she asked walking around the counter and pulling an apron around her waist.  


“That's exactly what they- what are you doing?' Harry asked, halfway through picking out a sauce from the pantry, when he caught sight of Lily looking like a proper unprofessional chef.  


“I was gonna-help make dinner,” she said quietly, rocking back and forth on her hells.  


Harry moved his weight to one leg and eyed her, “you never help make dinner.”  


“Well I wanted to help since people are coming over,” she said, referring to the fact that Niall, Liam, and Jade were due to arrive any minute now, mainly to celebrate with them on a successful meeting. But if Niall was driving they probably wouldn't show up until the dessert was ready to be eaten. And Lily still wasn't sure why they had planned to have friends over after their meeting because all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch under the blankets.  


“Okay...”  


“Besides, I always try to help, but you never let me,” Lily pouted, and maybe she was exaggerating a little bit, and maybe Harry noticed.  


“You always try to?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrows and maybe that's not so true. Usually Lily tasted everything Harry made and stayed clear of the behind the counter work, but lately she'd been trying to be more active in her cooking role.  


“Okay fine, I want to try to cook more. Is that okay with you?” Lily huffed. Frankly she didn't feel she needed to ask him, she just needed him to step out of the way and she'd go to work. She didn't understand why he was pestering her.  


“Sure yeah...just thought you said you didn't like it,” Harry asked and Lily's shoulders dropped. Maybe that was why he was pestering her.  


Lily half nodding while playing with the end of her apron, because yeah, his words were mostly true, “You'd be correct.”  


“Then why the sudden interest dove?”  


Lily sighed at his pet name for her.  


“Well I don't think it's fair that I can bake but not cook,” she said earning a nod from Harry as if understood what she was getting at, and he definitely did.  


“You can make a mean German chocolate cake,” Harry listed off from his mind, almost tasting it in his memory.  


“It's just not fair,” Lily continued to complain.  


“And don't get me started on your cream cheese pumpkin bread,” Harry gushed, kissing his finger tips and lifting them up to the sky. It was food that usually made him tune out a girl, but only for a few seconds.  


“I mean shouldn't those things go hand in hand?”  


Harry finally heard what she was saying again. “I supposed not-” he told her.  


“Well they should,” Lily griped and finally Harry had had enough.  


“Fine fine, I get your point, you want to help in the kitchen more, sounds good,” he nodded and handed her the spoon.  


“Really?” Lily asked.  


“Yup, as long as we don't burn anything down, we do have guests coming in a bit,”  


“No promises,” Lily warned, because she had almost set her families Christmas tree on fire one time though. She didn't know you shouldn't play with those little poppers inside.  


Moments later Niall, Liam, and Jade showed up and Lily felt she should have volunteered to learn some other time, because all Niall was doing was eating everything that wasn't ready yet and chatting a hundred miles per minutes, Liam was talking about some film he had seen that Harry had wanted to catch, and Jade was flipping through lots of stacks of magazines on the counter.  


Thirty minutes later and Lily had managed to do everything Harry usually did on his own. She had acted like Harry's assistant while cooking the meal, but by the end of things she was working on her own.  


“I'm so proud,” Harry told her wiping a fake tear from his eye.  


“I don't even know what I'd do if Harry here couldn't cook, I'd starve myself,” Lily said, looking over at her friend from across the table.  


“That's what I'm here for Lil,” he winked, “and I think you made better pasta than me.”  


“Oh stop...it would be completely different if you hadn't helped me,” she admitted to him, passing the dish towards Jade to her side.  


“Probably wouldn't have been editable,” Niall joked.  


“Like anything you cook is editable,” Jade pointed out, earning a laugh from Liam.  


“Ey, you obviously haven't tried my Mac and cheese,” Niall tried to defend himself. Harry had a feeling he didn't want to try his mac and cheese.  


“The kind from a box?” Liam said, continuing to chuckle, which made Lily laugh along.  


“Li, don't act like something's stuck up ur arse just because Zayny and his girl are on a date,” Niall shot back, making Lily and Harry almost gasp at the same time. Leave it to Niall to bring tension and suspense to the dinner table.  


“They're on a date?” Lily asked at the same time Harry shouted, “Zayn's such a pimp.”  


“She's not his girl...” Liam mumbled, clearly trying not to be upset.  


“Not yet,” Jade said.  


“I can't believe you didn't tell me Jade,” Lily complained.  


“I can't believe it either,” Harry said sounding just like Lily, earning a whack on the arm from her.  


Jade rolled her eyes before giving angry looks to Niall. “Was going to, but Niall read my text messages earlier and spoiled it...” Jade replied more to Lily.  


“Don't blame it on me,” Niall said putting a hand up to his shirt.  


“So anyways, tell us what all they said at your meeting,” Liam asked a little loudly launching Harry, but mostly Lily, into an explanation of what they were told and what they had talked about.  


“Did they seem hopeful..in offering you something?” Jade asked.  


“I guess...” Lily said looking at Harry who nodded, “I think after they hear us play live then they'll kind of make a decision.” She pressed her teeth together and tried not to will the nerves back in, but all she could think about was what would happen if she messed up on the performance, resulting in nothing but heartache.  


“Yeah, I think so to,” Harry replied, drinking the last of his champagne.  


“Well I know you lads will do great,” Niall told them, knocking his cup into Lily's and Liam's since he was on the other side of him.  


“I sure hope so,” Lily sighed.  


“Did you want more to drink Lily?”Harry asked, noticing her glass was also empty as he scooted his chair out from the table.  


“Yeah...oh and bring the brownies yeah?” she asked him making him groan as he made his way across the room.  


“There're brownies?” Niall gasped.  


“And the plates and stuff?” Lily asked making Harry groan and roll his eyes, all at once.  


“Fine...” he said and she clapped.  


“yayyyy, you're the best,” Lily told him as he left the room.  


When he walked back in his arms were full of brownie eating supplies and Lily waited till he put some stuff down to high five him.  


“You cut them, I'll plate,” she said and Harry nodded. Then the two of them mindlessly worked together to serve the dessert and Harry noticed Niall staring at them more than the food.  


“What Niall?” he asked.  


“I don't think I'll ever get used to it,” Niall said as Harry cut the brownies and placed them on the plates set out by Lily.  


They both looked up at him, their eyebrows knitted.  


“They act so much like a married couple, do they not?” he said throwing his arms out and looking between Jade and Liam.  


“Well yeah,” Jade replied at the same time Liam said, “definitely.”  


“You're so funny stop,” Lily said sarcastically while faking a laugh. She was used to hearing things like this from people. Whenever Harry and her went out they almost always got commented about how they were a cute couple or looked good together or something. But that didn't mean she knew how to react. She half wanted to tell people her and Harry were cousins just to make them feel bad.  


“Don't talk about marriage, it frightens Lily,” Harry said sticking out his tongue as he turned and set the rest of the supplies on the counter since they didn't fit on the small table.  


“What's that supposed to mean?” Lily set her hand on her hip and waited for Harry to come back over. She definitely did not know what he was getting at.  


“Nothing just...talking about the future scares you, doesn't it?” he asked and she felt annoyed because she knew he was fighting a smirk.  


“So what if it does?”  


“Nothing Lil, don't freak out,” he said as if to reassure her, but she sure was freaking out now.  


“Oh yeah okay, you donut,” she said under her breath as she squeezed the whip cream towards him. He nearly fell over in his chair when it landed on his arm, earning a laugh from the group.  


“Put that down, we aren't having a food fight here!” he warned her prodding his finger in the air towards her.  


“My gawd would ya stop wasting it?” Niall said and made a grab for the whipped cream can, yanking it from her and smothering his brownie with the mixture.  


Lily stuck her tongue out this time but Harry returned the gesture. Then casually they took their spots again next to each other.  


“I want to be a godmother of your first kid with him, okay?” Jade said with a wink and Lily huffed.  


“Jade...there's no way I'm having a kid with this donut,” Lily said, trying to be quiet so Harry wouldn't really hear, but she had failed.  


“We'll see dove,” Harry replied, leaning over to her making little kissy faces at her.  


Lily and Harry luckily weren't the butt of anymore jokes for the rest of the night, and Jade even apologized for starting any of the talk back with the guys.  
v “It's alright Jade, boys will be boys,” Lily told her friend as they tried to clean up the pots and pans as the guys walked downstairs to throw all the trash away.  


“Hey so, I was wondering if you could help me with something?” And Lily should have known something was coming since her friend had apologized.  


“What is it?”  


“I was wondering if you could come with me to pick out some fabrics. I have a huge assignment by the end of the month and I need someone to go with because I'll lose my mind if I go by myself,” Jade said. Jade was a fashion student and Lily was actually really honored she had asked her to go with her over some of Jade's fashion friends.  


“Sure,” Lily agreed and instantly Jade smiled.  


“Seriously? Okay great, does this Wednesday sound good to you?” Jade asked, setting the glasses away in the cupboard.  


“Yeah I'm free,” Lily said.  


“Perfect, you're a doll,” she gushed and the sound of the front door bursting open and loud voices let the girls know the guys were back.  


“Anything for else to do ladies?” Harry asked as he sashayed into the room, followed by Liam and Niall who were chatting away.  


“Nope, we're good,” Lily told them and they just sat around for a bit talking. Niall kept persisting that Harry and Lily play them a song but Lily kept telling him no. Eventually he listened and a bit before twelve they all decided to call it a night.  


;  


Lily almost had missed her alarm clock that following Wednesday because she had only gotten about three hours of sleep after pulling an all night writing session with Harry. In fact when she woke up to get ready Harry was still fast asleep. She tried to remind herself that it had been very successful though, so the sacrifice of a few hours of sleep was worth it. But her eyelids thought otherwise.  


She stumbled around the flat trying not to make too much noise but Harry probably would have slept through a tornado.  


Finally Lily slipped out the front door when Jade was already parked outside.  


“Thank you so much for coming with, I'll buy you lunch if you want,” Jade confessed when they walked into the first fabric store, first of many, that they would visit that day.  


“You're sweet Jade...I just hope I can be of some assistance,” Lily admitted.  


Lily never knew the life of a fashion student was so crazy. Jade literally had roles of different fabrics hanging off her arms as she flipped through her sketch book in one hand, all while juggling her phone, which had more sketches, as well as her purse.  


“Does this go with this?” she asked, holding a light purple lace over some gray fabric.  


“Yeah...yeah I think so,” Lily commented, holding a bag of buttons and some zippers, not nearly as much as Jade was holding. But every time Lily offered to help hold stuff Jade claimed she had it.  


“Me to. Okay I think we can check out,” Jade said trying to toss her hair over her shoulder. Instead she kind of looked like she was doing a weird twitching dance move.  


“Hey so who's that guy you've been posting pics with on Instagram?” Lily took the chance of asking as they grabbed a bite to eat after nearly five hours of shopping.  


“Oh uh...his name's Ashton, he's a friend,” she said quietly, making Lily want to continue to question her.  


“A friend huh?”  


“Yeah..and it's funny you ask that, because I kind of was gonna ask you for another favor,” Jade said.  


“I'm not helping you sew anything Jade,” Lily put out there.  


“No not that. I was wondering if you'd go to a party with me next weekend?” she asked, bringing her teeth together.  


“A party? What kind of party Jade?”  


“Not a crazy one or anything, Ashton invited me, him and some of his friends have a garage band and I thought you might like them,” Jade explained, and well Lily had to admit when she said garage band she did become interested.  


“And where is this party?”  


“Here in London this Friday, I was gonna stay at Niall's afterward, but I can take you home,” she said and she sure did seem to have it all figured out.  


“Okay...as long as we don't stay to long cause I have the important meeting the next morning,” Lily remembered.  


“Oh okay, that's fine.”  


“Then yeah, I can go,” Lily told her.  


So Jade had kind of lied when she said the party wouldn't be a crazy one, and well, it wasn't the craziest Lily had every seen, she just wasn't here to interact in a crazy manor. Lily and Harry had their 'audition' tomorrow, so there was no way she could drink or get involved with the law tonight. And it's not that she usually did, but there were definitely people at the party drinking, and she expected some were smoking things other than cigarettes.  


Jade didn't seem to notice at all though, because the second they walked into the old factory sort of building her 'friend' Ashton showed up and talked to them and told them his band would be playing shortly.  


Lily pretended she fit in with this odd emo/rock vibe, but she didn't. This wasn't really her genre of music but as long as they didn't scream all their songs she probably wouldn't have a headache after all this.  


But soon as all the guys appeared on the small stage, and it was small, it was only a few inches off the ground and the four of them barely fit, Lily realized the guys weren't as emo as she thought, and they didn't have longer hair than she did. In fact they were actually pretty cute, especially the light haired boy on guitar. Lily was trying not to stare at him to much though, because Jade had told her they were all younger than them.  


Lily found herself tapping her foot along to the music and long before they had stopped she hadn't even noticed Jade had slipped away.  


When they ended Lily was clapping pretty loud along with the others in the dark room.  


“So you're the song bird, right?” one of the guys that had just been up on the stage said as he appeared by Lily's side, and she was instantly taken by how soft his characteristics were. Oh course it had to be the light haired boy, the one she had noticed was especially comfortable with his guitar. She gulped because they had something in common and that almost distracted her from the fact that he had just called her a songbird. How did he know that?  


“I am, yesss,” she said slowly, trying to figure out how he knew. Perhaps she just looked like the songbird type? That wasn't a good guess though, considering she was in a skirt and loose sweater with oxfords on her feet.  


“I'm Luke,” he said and extended his hand. Lily of course shook it, gripping the boy's warm hand with a smile.  


“Nice to meet you, I'm Lily.”  


“The pleasure's mine. I saw Jade walk out with Ashton, and was just wondering where her friend had gone,” he admitted and Lily had to confess she was a bit surprised. He seemed really quiet and shy on stage, and young she had to add, but he sure wasn't shy about talking with her.  


“Oh I'm right here, was invited here by Jade but then she just up and left me,” Lily disclosed, making Luke laugh lightly.  


“I'm in a similar situation, you see all my friends kind of drink, but I try not to during gigs,” Luke explained.  


“I get you, I won't be drinking tonight cause I have a thing tomorrow,” she said.  


“A performance?” he asked with big eyes.  


Lily nodded. “Yeah um, how'd you know?”  


“I've seen some of your Youtube stuff, I'm kind of a fan,” he gushed and Lily felt really happy to hear that. She was going to tell him thanks when all his friends walked over as well as Jade.  


“Heyyyy, Luke found her!” one of them shouted and Luke instantly recoiled against the wall.  


“Hey Lily, Jade here told us all about you, oh and Luke has a huge crush on you,” a multi-color haired boy shouted pushing Luke's shoulder. All he did was grimace as Lily looked over at him.  


“Oh really,” was all she could say.  


“Yup. So glad you could make it,” the other said, and yeah they definitely had been drinking. Ashton, who was standing next to Jade seemed pretty sober though, but Jade sure didn't. Lily was upset she had lost her during the performance because that must have been when Jade got a few drinks in.  


“You having fun Jade?” Lily asked, pulling her friend by the arm over to chat as the guys teased Luke pretty loudly.  


“I'm greatttt!” she said.  


“Okay,” Lily said and the guys went back on the small stage for a few more songs. Jade somehow was sitting on the edge of the stage with a beer in her hand, and Lily was trying not to laugh at her.  


Despite the guys playing for twenty more minutes, Luke set down his guitar and came over to sit by Lily, who had found a vacant couch to the side of the room.  


“They won't even notice I'm gone,” he pointed out when Lily asked why he'd just left them up there.  


Luke and Lily chatted with each other for the remainder of the night. She found out he was nearly three years younger than her, but he was so sweet she didn't even mind. She found out his favorite color; blue, and he found out her favorite breakfast cereal; fruit loops.  


“Did you know they are all the exact same flavor, just different colors?” Luke informed her over the rather loud music someone had hooked up to the cruddy PA system.  


“What??!!!” Lily exclaimed, making Luke shake with laughter, “are you serious?” When he nodded she gasped and hit his shoulder, “why would you tell me that.”  


“I just thought you'd like to know,” he chuckled.  


“Well no...no I didn't want to know,” she told him pretending to be mad, but she kept looking at his lip ring which she figured he had gotten to look tougher, but it was kind of working oppositely.  


Eventually Jade showed up again and Lily tired her hardest not to judge her because she knew Jade must have had something other than alcohol. Her friend's breath reeked of vodka but she felt sorry for her because she knew the reason Jade was acting like this was because she was stressed out with school and such.  


She knew Jade wouldn't do anything stupid though, she had a really good head on her shoulders and had never been a screw up. But maybe being around a cute boy was a different case.  


“Thanks for watching her for me Luke,” Jade giggled, sitting on the arm rest beside him.  


“It was no problem,” Luke said with a grin.  


“You ready to go?” Lily asked already getting up from her spot as she tried to pull her friend over to talk to her one on one. Jade didn't move an inch though when she heard Lily's words.  


“What? No it's only 10 o'clock,” Jade complained making faces.  


“Well yeah I know, but I have to get up early tomorrow Jade.”  


“Ahhh man,” Jade whined. Lily considered just taking Jade's keys and driving herself home and somehow figuring out a way for Jade to get home.  


“Um, I can give her a ride home, if you wanted to stay Jade,” Luke suggested out of no where. Lily didn't know what to make of it either. She had just met this guy and he was offering to drive her phone. What if he made a move, or tried to kidnap her? She doubted that would happen though but if it did she was pretty sure she could take him.  


“What about- how long do you plan to stay?” Lily asked her friend looking back at her.  


“Like midnight,” Jade listed, sloshing the drink in her shot cup onto the floor.  


“Fine but I'm gonna call Niall to pick you up, since you're downing shots,” Lily said earning a giggle from Jade.  


“Okayyyy, see you later then,” Jade said goodbye and hugged her and scurried off leaving Luke and Lily there in the loud room.  


With that they turned and headed out to Luke's parked car.  


The ride was quiet, with just a few words being shared back and forth. But Lily was having all kind of thoughts about him. About whether she'd see him again and if things would be awkward if they just left things off like this.  


“Thank you very much for driving me home Luke, I...I really appreciate it,” she thanked him as he pulled up.  


“Oh it's no problem at all,” he said smiling over at her, and maybe it would be her that would make a move.  


Lily heard his words, but all she could do was stare at his silhouette in the dark cab of his car. All she could think about was how forward it would be if she just reached over and connected their lips, much like how she'd been wanting to do every since she met him only two hours ago. She knew it would be forward, but she didn't even mind.  


She was awaken from her thoughts when Luke started to open his door making her almost shout.  


“I don't think you should walk me to the door cause my friend is probably watching and-” she said suddenly and could tell his face dropped a little bit.  


“Oh, oh okay,” he spoke softly, shutting his door.  


She smiled, let out a breath, then took her hand off her own door handle and reached over to place her hand against his neck, bringing their lips to one anothers.  


Lily laughed at the shocked way Luke responded at first but then sighed into the kiss. It only lasted a moment, but he definitely was a good kisser.  


“I'm really sorry, I don't usually kiss on the first date but-” Lily admitted suddenly chewing on her lip.  


“You don't have to apologize for anything Lily,” he told her and then they sat there for a few moments in the quiet.  


“Um, I have a question though. I asked Jade and she said you were single but I didn't know if you were with Harry,” Luke said.  


“Oh no, Harry and I are just friends,” she said quickly.  


“Okay, so you're just musical partners and-”  


“Yeah, it's strictly professional with us,” Lily confirmed and Luke watched her before taking a breath and nodding.  


“Okay, then would you like to go out, on a proper date?” he asked her and Lily said yes before she could even think about it.  


Lily was all smiles before she opened the front door and spotted Harry just waking up on the couch. Her heart nearly dropped when seeing his messy hair and lanky body spread out on the all too small surface.  


“You're home, finalllyyyyyy,” Harry said, followed by a yawn and a big stretch.  


“Yeah,” Lily mumbled stopping halfway in the room because she was staring at him. And she was trying not to, but if she looked away she thought she'd miss something.  


“How was it, the party?” Harry asked, rubbing his head.  


“Good, really good,” she replied with a small smile, playing with the end of her shirt.  


Harry stared at her for a bit making her feel nervous all of a sudden, and slightly guilty.  


“Meet anyone?” he asked. There was her opportunity, to just tell him what had happened and squeal about her night, honestly Harry would probably squeal back. But she didn't take the opportunity at hand.  


“Um...yeah a few people, some of Jade's friends.” That was all she said, cause well it wasn't a lie at all.  


“Okay, well then I'm gonna get to bed, was just waiting for you to get back,” Harry said walking towards her, “goodnight dove.”  


Lily stayed pretty frozen when he wrapped a loose arm around her and placed his lips to the top of her hair. It was something he did frequently, but it felt so new to feel his pink lips on her hair. It made her feel different.  


“Night Harry,” she said letting out a sigh.  


“Nice cologne by the way,” Harry spoke over his shoulder as he boarded the stairs and Lily felt like a little kid who had got caught eating out of the cookie jar. Her jaw dropped open, and even though she knew he couldn't see it, she shut it instantly and looked around the room, trying to find out how he knew.  


Lily kept telling herself there was no reason to feel guilty, but she couldn't even think straight due to her heavy heart.  


;  


Lily's heart had literally been beating abnormally for two hours straight. Probably even longer than that because she had been nervous the whole morning, and especially on the ride to their meeting, and most definitely when they were introduced to the board and were asked to play a song they had written and a cover of one.  


Harry had knocked it out of the park, she knew that by their faces when Harry started singing. His sultry voice was meant to be on a record. Obviously they knew that and it was that hope that had Lily feeling anxious they would tell them right there and then that they were being offered a record deal.  


“We'll be calling you some time this week with news, okay, we just need some time to go over things,” Cal told them, “thank you guys for coming you were amazing.”  


They thanked him and Lily tried not to cry and Harry practically skipped out to the car.  


“We smashed it Lily! Absolutely smashed it!” he exclaimed before even turning on the car.  


“We did didn't we,” Lily squealed and they both let out screams before doing a mini little dance party and Lily was laughing hard when Harry hit his elbow on the steering wheel causing him to honk the horn.  


“You wanna celebrate and get some dessert?”  


“What kind?” Lily asked with wide eyes.  


“Oh I think you know what kind,” Harry said wiggling his eyebrows.  
v Soon enough they were at a little local ice cream shop, one decorated with bright pinks and blues since it was usually where kids birthday parties were held. But they had been coming here for years now.  


“I think they liked our original song, don't you?” Harry gushed as they ate their ice cream on little stools.  


“Mhhm,” Lily mumbled, watching at Harry swung his abnormally large feet back and forth.  


“You're guitar riff, was perfection,” he told her and she smiled from behind her strawberry cone.  


“You're vocals though, I think they'll seal the deal bright eyes,” she told him and he put his ice cream cone in hand down on the table.  


“That's my favorite nick name I've ever had,” he admitted to her and she kind of froze for a second. He had never really told her that, had just mentioned that he approved of it.  


“Not even cupcake styles was your favorite?” Lily teased.  


“Nope, bright eyes is my fav, or maybe it's just because you call me that,” Harry said looking off around the little ice cream shop.  


Lily knew his words were probably harmless, but they made her feel giddy inside.  


She felt so giddy she nearly ignored the text message that appeared on her phone from Luke. Lily locked her phone after looking at the message quickly and she laughed when she looked up to see Harry let out a little screech as his ice cream slipped right out of his hand. She had never seen his eyes go quite as wide but it just made her laugh even harder.  


“So clumsy you are bright eyes...” Lily said before holding her ice cream out so they could share hers, making his eyes turn extra bright.  


;  


Harry and Lily were informed that Capitol records wanted to meet with them again. They were let know that they would in time be offered a record deal, but there were measures they had to take first. Basically it was a complete take over of their careers that they were discussing with them.  


Their Youtube channel wouldn't be in their total control anymore. Their songs would have to be written with their team from now on. They were told they'd make a demo of four songs and if the sound went over well then they would sign the contracts for putting a CD out.  


“It's not official, but it's pretty close,” Cal told them as he showed them around the studio that they would be 'living in' until they finished their demo CD.  


It was all so amazing to Lily. It honestly felt like a dream to know all this was happening.  


“Oh and one more thing, if I were you guys I would make sure this is your primary focus. Only part time working, and I mean keep up with your studies, but no dating, which I know is gonna be hard for two charming people, but I'm serious,” Cal told them making Lily gulp as Harry tried to laugh.  


“We've had too many people come this far to think they can balance a hundred things at once and they lose this chance, I don't want to see that happen to you guys,” he said and Lily nodded taking every word he said to heart.  


“Alright, we understand,” Harry replied for them.  


“Great, knew you two would,” Cal said and one arm hugged them both. “Okay then see you in a few days,” he said and walked out to his car.  
v It wouldn't have been a concern for Lily at all, but she was torn because only the other day Luke had asked her out on a date and she had agreed. And she knew it was just a little date, they weren't actually 'dating' or anything, but she was thinking that maybe just maybe it wasn't fair to Luke if she still went out with him.  


;  


That following day Harry and Lily spent hours working on their guitar skills and even breaking out the keyboard Lily had under her bed. Harry didn't end up working today so they spent the morning eating oatmeal and lounging around the house, thinking of things that would make good songs.  


“You should play piano more,” Harry told her from the couch where he had spread out all the records he owned in search of a good one to play.  


Lily pressed a few more chords out on the black keys and then huffed, “I like guitar more though,” she said looking over at her's up against the wall.  


Harry mumbled something before he stood up and walked over to the record player, popping something in that Lily recognized but didn't acknowledge.  


“I actually wanna learn violin,” Lily told him and he nodded. Lily was serious though. She had always wanted to learn violin, but had never gotten around to it.  


“Go for it!” he said as he begin kind of dancing over towards her. And Harry knew his dancing was atrocious, but a good Rolling Stones song always got his feet moving. He hadn't pulled his eyes off his friend, trying to make her look at him but she wasn't. She was acting like she didn't know the song but he knew that she knew exactly what song it was. Only because they had listened to this record on repeat for a week after Harry bought it.  


“Bring me a pen please,” Lily said scratching her own pen, trying to make it work, on the paper she held against the keyboard. But of course when she needed it most it had failed. She tossed it to the floor and kept repeating what she wanted to write down so she wouldn't forget it, and the way Harry was barely moving across the floor she feared she might forget it.  


Harry did as she asked but continued to dance.  


An hour later it was lunch time and Harry was terribly sad they didn't have cheese to make grilled cheese sandwiches with.  


“I'll run to Tesco,” Lily then told him.  


“What?” Harry asked looking at her like an angel, but then she knew how much he had been craving grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, so it made sense.  


“I'll run over there real fast,” she said already hooking her purse over her shoulder.  


“You sure? You don't want me to go with you?”  


“No, just get everything ready,” Lily told him and he nodded.  


“Alright, be careful,” he said pulling out the bread and pans to have things ready to go for when she came back.  


Lily must have been gone all of twenty minutes. She grabbed different cheeses, and some other items and some teas because she knew they were out of those as well.  


“Okay I'm back,” she said hurrying in.  


“Great, um, hey uh-,” Harry said making Lily look over at him. He looked a bit pale and she was about to ask why but he spoke, “Did you get everything?” Harry asked. Lily dismissed his expression though as she set the bags on the table and started pulling things out, “what all did you buy?”  


“The necessities,” Lily told him and tossed him the teas to put away. He caught one and placed it in the cupboard but the second one came hurdling at him so he didn't have a chance to react. Lily gasped when it hit him over the eye, making Harry let out a yelp.  


“Oh my gosh...I'm sorry,” she shouted and went over to him. Harry had his hand over his eye and though he wanted to say it didn't hurt that bad, it felt like his eyeball was on fire.  


“'it's alright, just might have to wear an eye patch,” he chuckled.  


“Let me see,” Lily said grabbing his wrist to move his hand, but he jerked away.  


“It's fine Lily,” he told her trying to move away from her, but she had him trapped against the counter, and Harry was desperately trying not to let her hips touch his.  


“Just let me assess the damage,” she told him and he groaned, finally letting her move his hand. His eye was definitely red, but she knew he'd be okay.  


“I'm so sorry Harry-” Lily said and she was stopped instantly when she heard a door open down the hall. She turned around and saw none other than Luke standing there in the doorway with a small smile. Lily's mouth opened. Maybe she had been dreaming because that's the only logical way Luke would be able to be here.  


“Luke?” she asked and he walked up, so he had to be real.  


Lily felt her heart drop down to her feet, she didn't know how it was possible but it's how she felt. Of course Luke had to be here. Of course he had to just magically appear while she was here with Harry, and the fact that her hand was still gripping his wrist was even better.  


“What are you doing here?” she asked him, practically pushing Harry away, begging the shakes in her voice to not be shown in her throat.  


“Uh...I just came to see you, and Harry invited me in,” Luke said. Lily didn't really know who to look at. She wasn't used to being right in between two cute guys. Wait but Harry didn't count.  


“He's a fan Lil-Lily,” Harry said with a shy smile on his face.  


“I know,” Lily said staring at Harry.  


“I'm sorry, I'm the one that just barged in..I should go,” Luke said, already heading towards the door.  


“Oh um,” Lily blurted out not sure what to do, and Harry was no help because he had caused all this and now he was just standing there looking innocent.  


“What did you-why did you, uh-”  


“I just wanted to confirm our uh...date on Saturday,” he said and if it was even possible Lily felt her heart drop even further. And what the heck was she supposed to tell him.  


“Yeah um, of course,” she smiled and he smiled back.  


And just like that she let him leave.  


;  


“The first chords F-flat, right Lily?” Harry asked as he sat up on the stool and leaned over towards her.  


She smiled and nodded, not wanting to have a conversation at the moment as they sat there quietly waiting for the reception of the wedding to start.  


It was the second wedding Lily and Harry had played at and she always had an extra bundle of nerves because she didn't want to make any mistakes on someone's big day. Her mind was focused on the songs and singing and playing the piano right, but then she looked over at Harry wearing a full out suit and she could feel her heart jumping around inside her chest.  


When they were asked to play their first wedding, Lily had her reservations, mostly because her and Harry weren't really classically trained or formal in any way. They always went with the flow and were strictly acoustic. But Harry had been all for it.  


Nearly six months after that, someone had suggested them to a friend and let and behold they had booked a wedding that paid better than their latest festival gig.  


They were presented with a list of songs to play a few weeks ago and Lily was actually looking forward to playing some new material. But every time she looked to her right over at Harry he was making weird faces making her forget the set list, though she had just looked down at it by her feet.  


This wedding was a lot bigger than the previous one, so Lily kept telling herself that was the reason why she had extra butterflies tonight.  


Ten songs in, they were asked to play instrumental music as they talked and Harry keep trying to get Lily's attention to tell her he had to use the restroom.  


“It's because of all the lemonade you keep drinking,” Lily said, when they were allowed a break and made a run for the restrooms.  


“It's so good though, I think it's spiked,” he whispered, making Lily smother a laugh behind her hand.  


“Harold we need to be professional, don't say things like that,” she said and they went to their separate restrooms.  


Soon enough they were performing again and they were even able to steal some cake, which Harry claimed was better than even getting paid. Lily didn't agree though seeing that they had a rent to pay in a few days.  


;  


Lily really liked the dress she had on. She liked the color and the way it hit her hips. And she liked her shoes a lot as well, they were kind of high but she could actually walk in them. But she was so conflicted that she couldn't even appreciate her outfit as she looked at herself in her mirror and kept telling herself this was wrong.  


She should have never said yet to going out with Luke in the first place. She knew that she was advised to not be in any relationships right now, but she kept telling herself it was harmless. But if it was harmless she sure shouldn't be feeling like a pile of crap for leading Luke on, cause that's what she felt like she was doing.  


The hard thing was she couldn't really talk to anyone about it. She considered telling Jade but she knew she would just tell her to go for it, cause that's what Jade usually did. And she would go to Harry with something like this, but he wasn't exactly the best to talk to about boy trouble, unless maybe he was the boy.  


So for over a week she harbored unwanted and unpleasant feelings with no way to express them. She should have known she would blow but she tried to think that if she just acted as if nothing was wrong that things would fix themselves. And of course she was wrong.  


Lily was all ready to leave for her date, but her mind was elsewhere. Even when she walked outside to meet Luke on the doorstep her mind was floating above her. She hardly even hugged him because she was too busy trying to push certain thoughts out of her mind. She felt guilty and torn and even as she climbed into his car she couldn't take all the thoughts she was thinking.  


“Luke,” she said a bit loudly, making him stop before turning on the car, “I..I don't think I can do this.” Her voice was hardly above a whisper.  


She took a glance at him and he didn't seem as shocked as she had expected.  


“Okay...” he said softly as if asking her to elaborate a bit more.  


“I just...I can't do this. And it's not that I don't like you, cause I do, but I'm not at a place in my life right now where I should be..doing this,” Lily rambled using her hands as she gestured to him and her. And she couldn't believe she was even telling him all this, but once she had started she couldn't stop. Lily knew he'd probably hate her for being so honest, but it was a risk she hadn't even taken into account.  


“I understand Lily,” Luke said making her eyebrows raise.  


“Yo-you do?” Lily asked him and he shrugged. He had to be joking, he had to be furious with her right now.  


“I just...I had the feeling you were just being nice and..I understand if you want to be friends and...well I mean, when I saw you the other day with Harry I knew I could never have that with you..” Luke said and Lily instantly interjected.  


“Oh no it's not because of Harry-”  
v “I know you say that, but you guys would be good together,” Luke said but all Lily could do was kind of stare off past him, hearing his words but feeling in a daze because she didn't expect him to say any of this. “Look I just, it doesn't have to be your excuse, but it'll be mine.”  


And of course now Lily couldn't find her voice because she was still in shock.  


“I understand if you don't wanna go out still...” Luke then spoke.  


“No I...I'm gonna go back inside,” Lily said already opening her door. So she got out and looked at him and though he looked hurt he looked kind of releaved.  


“I”m still really sorry Luke.”  


“It's okay Lily really,” Luke tried to convince her.  


Lily nodded and backed away from the window. She watched him drive off from over her shoulder before opening the front door and stepping inside.  


Though Lily kept telling herself she had done the right thing and that she should feel better, she didn't. She felt like such a bad person. All she could think about was taking a nap and hopefully she would feel better after that.  


Lily spotted the living room empty but when she walked into the kitchen there Harry was with his back to her. As soon as her heels clicked on the wood he flipped around.  


“What the-what happened?” Harry asked, half a croissant in his mouth. Though Lily felt sad, in fact she felt really sad, she let out a laugh at the sight in front of her.  


“We just...we decided to just be friends,” Lily said straight out and let out a sigh. Harry tossed his croissant onto the counter and hurried over to her as if she was injured.  


“I'm sorry,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and Lily let herself hug him off. “are you alright? you wanna talk about it?” Harry asked, rocking her in his arms before pulling away to look at her.  


“I'm just..bummed,” Lily confessed and yeah that pretty much summed it up.  


“I'm sorry dove,” he said again squeezing her arms before releasing her.  


“I think I'm just gonna go lay down,” Lily said, and started turning away before Harry stopped her.  


“Oh wait, we should go out or something, you're all dressed up and look pretty and-” Harry said watching Lily tilt her head and stare at him, “or we could just cook dinner here.”  


Lily wanted to say she just wanted to take a nap, but now that Harry mentioned food she had remembered how hungry she was, since she had been saving her appetite for this night.  


“Do we have pancake mix?” she found herself asking.  


Harry smirked, “of course.”  


“Can we have breakfast for dinner?” Lily asked and Harry was already hopping over to the cupboards pulling out the necessary supplies.  


“YES!” Harry shouted.  


“Okay, I'm gonna go change,” Lily told him and he gasped.  


“Oh no no, wait! Let me go put a blazer on and we'll be fancy together,” Harry said making her stand there confused, “get the eggs and milk out yeah?”  


Lily nodded and okay as Harry hurried out of the room, nearly taking out the wall when he almost ran into it. She thought he had made it upstairs without injuring himself but she heard a loud thud on the steps, followed by him saying 'I'm okay'. Sure enough he ran back in with a blazer and his good boots.  


“Can I at least take my heels off?” Lily asked as she stood there flipping the pancakes for him.  


“Sure yeah...I don't like you being this tall,” Harry told her as he mixed the batter.  


Ten minutes later they were sitting up on the counter eating their pancakes and eggs. Harry claimed they had to sit there because he couldn't reach the record player from anywhere else.  


Lily no longer felt as bummed anymore. Truth was as soon as Harry started talking about something him and Gemma had done the other day she was laughing and smiling and stuffing her face with food.  


“I'm full now...you're gonna have to eat the rest,” Lily said setting her plate down and fixing her dress. Harry groaned and reached for the rest of them. He acted like he wasn't gonna be able to eat them all but she knew he would.  


“Fiiiiine then,” he sighed and Lily hopped off the top of the counter to reach for her phone. The floor was colder than Lily had expected so she alternated kicking her feet behind her as she looked at her phone.  


“This was fun,” Lily said turning back around to look at Harry, who had been watching her with his mouth stuffed with pancake goodness.  


“Mhhm,” he mumbled  


“Oh, I know something else that would be fun,” he said and rushed over to the record player, “I got a new record.”  


Lily simply watched him scurry around. He pulled something out of the side cupboard as if he had stashed it away for this exact moment. Soon he turned back to her and held out his hand as he walked over. It made since once the music started playing and it was something slow that made you wanna sway along to it.  


“May I have this dance?” he asked and Lily had no choice but to say yes.  


“You know I'm horrid at dancing,” she said as he pulled them closer and took the lead.  


“Then I must be disastrous,” Harry admitted making her laugh. Disastrous pretty much summed it up though.  


“You are,” she told him even though he was doing good and hadn't stepped on her feet, yet.  


“Thanks for all this Harry,” Lily said quietly as they stumbled around their small kitchen and dining room, and besides Harry almost running her into the chair, it was really comfortable and nice.  


“Don't even mention it Lily,” he said fluttering his eyes shut as she tried to look up at them. Though she wasn't that much shorter than him, when they were this close she felt miniature.  


“Lily promise me something,” Harry said breaking the few moments of silence between them, “Promise me that nothing will change between us, even if we make it big and our lives get all crazy...promise you'll still be my best friend, forever.”  


Lily's lips had turned upward into a smile before Harry had even said all his words, mostly because she knew whatever he was going to say was going to be sweet and heartfelt.  


“I promise,” she replied and she meant it. She would give up everything if she knew she'd lose Harry's friendship, it honestly was the most important thing in her life right now and she'd fight to keep it that way.  


“Pinkie promise,” he said pulling his hand out of hers and sticking his pinkie out.  


“Pinkie promise,” Lily agreed with a little laugh, and the way Harry smiled made her want to ask him to promise her that he'd always smile like that.  


;  


It took less than a month for Harry and Lily to record their demo for the label and it was safe to say Capital records absolutely loved it. They were sent on the fast track to completing a full record in record time. Pun intended.  


Four months later they had written, recorded and produced all the songs for their first full length album. At first it was fun, spending late nights and early mornings finishing up songs that they were both proud of, but the rushed time frame made Lily beg herself to not think of this as work. This was what they had wanted and what they had dreamed of, so what if it was a little time consuming and stressful at times. It would all be worth it.  


Towards the end of those four months they had recorded their first music video and released their first single. It took a bit of promoting and giving up many of their old ways of life, but soon they were being played on the radio and were really making a name for themselves in the UK.  


They were thrown into the spotlight in preparation for their album release which called for interviews, photo-shoots, and local TV appearances.  


And somewhere along the line Lily hadn't paid much attention to her feelings. She had no time for any of that, all she could focus on was work. Things didn't change between her and Harry at all, except they did, because somewhere along the line of recording songs and writing songs together, there was a new girl that had slowly made her way into Harry's life.  


Her name was Kendall and she had wrote with them on the album. That's initially how they had met. Lily didn't even expect anything to happen between Harry and her, but all too soon she started noticing what had been going on all this time before her. She started getting asked if Harry and this girl were dating, and she started realizing how much they were hanging out. Lily didn't want to admit she was jealous, except she was.  


And she hadn't let it truly get to her until Harry missed a meeting for their upcoming record release party.  


“Where the hell have you been?” Lily asked when the front door opened and Harry staggered in chuckling though there was nothing funny about the situation. Lily got even angrier at the sight of him slightly tipsy.  


“What?” Harry asked struggling to shut the door.  


Lily could barely look at him, but for some reason he instantly looked different. Harry's looks had changed up a little, courtesy of their new PR and image crew. Harry worse his hair in a messy quiff now instead of down and in his face. It wasn't as long as it used to be and he dressed a little more punctual now than his usually indie attire. Currently though he apparently had dug out his old clothes and was sporting jeans with holes, a plaid shirt, and a white shirt with a few stains.  


But besides the obvious changes to his appearance, Lily realized he just looked like a different person.  


“Harry we had a meeting two hours ago, you didn't show up,” she said arms crossed over her chest.  


“For what? The album release thing?” he asked, scratching his head.  


“Yes,” she said sternly.  


“I thought it was on Saturday,” Harry said making Lily groan and roll her eyes.  


“The party is, but we had a meeting about it!” she exclaimed.  


“Oh dang..well I seem to have mixed that up,” he told her with a big shrug and tried to move away from the door.  


“What the hell is going on with you?” Lily yelled, and there was a part of her that didn't want to start an argument with him, but she was irritated and had snapped. She felt he was guilty of this and maybe yelling would solve things. At any other sane time Lily would have realized she was wrong.  


“With me? What about you?” Harry shot back almost stunning her.  


“Me?” Lily asked.  


“Yes, why the heck are you yelling at me? I just forgot about the meeting okay,” Harry tried to explain willing his voice not to get loud.  


“Yeah...you forgot cause you were out with Taylor,” Lily said and Harry felt his blood rise.  


“Taylor, that's what this is about?” Harry asked.  


“Yes, she's the reason you've been different lately and not focused on this Harry, on what we have going for us,”  


“You think I'm not focused?”  


“I know you're not, because you'd rather be out on a date with her!” Lily said throwing her hand in the air.  


When Harry stood there looking at the wall Lily took it upon herself to shout some more, “It's like you don't realize we don't have the time to be messing around, this is our priority this is our chance Harry, you can't screw it up!”  


“Lily I would never screw this up for us, for one thing I don't even like Taylor like that she just happens to be friends with Grimmy and all them so we hang out a lot. And second, they tell us over and over we don't have time to date but we'd have all the time in the world if I was just dating you.” He admitted to her.  


Just like that Lily was frozen. Harry had begun talking calmly and his voice was timid, but by the end he was nearly shouting and it was something Lily was not familiar with. She also was not familiar with Harry speaking like this to her. His words were never on this subject and she didn't even know how to begin to tell him he was wrong.  


“Harry-”  


“No just listen to me because I know we aren't supposed to be distracted and this is our priority and I know that very well...but nothing would be complicated or time consuming if you and I were together,” Harry said and Lily starting shaking her head.  


“Why do you want to ruin this Harry?” Lily shouted, this time making Harry feel stunned.  


“Ruin? Nothing about us being together would ruin what-” Harry declared.  


“It would ruin everything! Harry our friendship is the only thing getting me through this all and you want to just throw that away!” Lily said and it was then she could feel tears at the corners of her eyes.  


“It would make our friendship stronger. Lily you can't look at me and tell me you don't have feelings for me,”  


Lily didn't have anything to say.  


“You're scared that we would work out, that's why you're making excuses,” he threw at her making her wince. All she could think was to shake her head in hopes she wouldn't acknowledge that he was right. But she wanted to tell him she had given this thought before. She had wondered if they could work together, but she didn't want to sacrifice what they had to try something that could fail. She didn't want to give up what was working so well for them right now. But of course she had wondered, so much she had convinced herself against it.  


“We wouldn't work...”  


“I know we would,” Harry stressed to her, wanting her to see things the way he did. The way he had seen them for years now but had always been too afraid to say out loud. Now he had and he wasn't scared anymore, so his head was spinning as to why she still was.  


“We can't Harry...” Lily said hardly above a whisper.  


“I don't know what else I have to say to prove it to you. What do I have to do to prove that I love you Lily?” Harry asked stepping closer to her.  


“Don't say that,” Lily wanted to beg him.  


With that Harry had had enough. He turned away from her and headed to the door. He had no idea where he was going but all he knew was he couldn't look at her knowing she didn't realize how much he loved her.  


;  


For once Lily's mind wasn't a mess and for two hours straight she let herself pour all the things in her head out onto paper. She had sat down with her guitar as soon as Harry left, feeling she needed to write the angriest song of her life because that's how she felt, but at the end of her writing process she had a completely different song written.  


Instead of giving Harry a piece of her mind for all the wrong he had done, she found she had written a love song. A song that described the way she felt when she saw him smile, a song about how pretty his eyes were. A song that she didn't even know she wanted him to hear, but now she needed him to.  


So Lily waited just about a whole other hour waiting for him to walk by through the doors, and when he finally did she felt even worst for having pushed him away all this time.  


“Harry we need to talk,” she spoke, afraid she wouldn't be able to say a word to him.  


“Okay...” Harry said.  


“I need you to hear something, that I-that I wrote...for you,” she said and positioned her fingers over the frets of her guitar.  


Harry was trying not to look at her, because it hurt him to know he had caused her tears. But as soon as she started singing he couldn't look away from her.  


He heard what she had to say about the way he smiled at her, and the way his eyes lit up when he laughed. He heard of the way he made her feel and it made him feel awfully emotional.  


By the end of the song she couldn't look at him at all, but he hadn't looked away.  


And though Lily had played the song effortlessly she felt choked up, especially because she didn't know how he'd react.  


“I just-I needed to play it for you,” she said, gulping back a hiccup brought on by her tears, “I'm sorry..I just-”  


She stopped herself when he grabbed the neck of the guitar and removed it from her. With a gentle touch, he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her up.  


“I'm the one that should be sorry Lily,” Harry told her as he rubbed her back.  


“Why?” she asked in disbelief.  


“Because I should have told you that I loved you sooner,” he said a smile creeping on his lips causing one to fall onto her own, but she only had seconds to smile before Harry was placing his lips against hers.  


And Lily was sure it was magic. It was magic the way they fit in each others arms. The way they fit together was like a puzzle piece, they were compliments. It was pure magic but it was all happening here in reality.  


It was something she had never experienced before but should have known she'd find within Harry. But he was right, she had been too scared to admit it in the past.  


But feeling his lips against hers and his hands on her skin made Lily feel that them being together was the right thing. And it was the thing Lily was most sure of, being this close to Harry and knowing how he felt for her. It made her question nothing and made her feeling everything, but that's how it had always been with Harry.  


Lily felt him press her to the wall and she couldn't contain her hands as they pulled through his hair. She felt his teeth on her lip and knew there was no way she could handle only this rapid touching. She needed him to be with her, needed him to know she didn't have a doubt in this world that they could be one.  


“Harry, I really need you,” she admitted, feeling his hand slip up her back like a vine.  


He kissed her for a few moments before he realized what her words meant, “you do?” he asked really breathless, releasing her lips.  


“Yeah..” she chuckled, kissing his neck as he stayed there frozen in front of her. And oh course now Harry was feeling everything, and now it was he who was thinking too much and to hard.  


“Lily, I'm..I'm okay with waiting,” Harry said, feeling conflicted when Lily started pulling off his plaid shirt. She kissed up his jaw making his cheeks flush, and he hardly got nervous around Lily, but he could already feel himself shaking.  


“Why wait, we're just gonna get married anyways,” Lily confessed and looked him straight in the eye making her giggle. And in her, Harry saw his future.  


“That's so fucking hot Lily,” Harry groaned as he bent down, hooked an arm under her legs and made a run for the stairs.  


Lily let out a high pitched laugh when he struggled to get the door open and finally had to disconnect his lips with hers to see what he was doing.  


She felt pure euphoria rushing through her, felt it from her head to toes when Harry set her on his bed and pulled his shirt off using one hand.  


“Impressive,” she chuckled and he stumbled against the edge of the bed nearly headbutting her, earning another laugh from her. Their laughter was honestly the only thing curbing her nerves.  


“Stop it...” he whined when he went to kiss her but she pushed her palm against his face trying to control her giggles.  


He tried to help with things by kissing down her neck and by trying to decipher the material that was the leggings and sweatshirt that she was wearing.  


Lily helped him, slipping out of her top as Harry instantly trailed his lips down her skin. She smiled shyly and watched him kiss her belly a few times before he stood up and struggled to get out of his pants. Lily begged herself not to laugh as he yanked his tight jeans off his ankles, but looking at his muscles move as he removed more and more clothing was enough to control her thoughts.  


When he finally succeeded, Harry climbed over her and they both smiled at each other before they went any further. Harry reached towards her and felt her hair that fell over her shoulder just like he always wanted to do. Then Lily kissed him and every part of his face and somewhere down the line he unsnapped her bra and she let herself catch her breath as Harry left wet kisses all over her chest.  


It was there, both of them being in only their bottom under garments, that Lily realized what was about to happen. And because of her realization she was suddenly nervous.  


“Lily are you-you're one hundred percent sure, right?” Harry asked, trailing a hand down her arm that was playing with the back of his hair.  


“I'm sure,” she told him.  


And for the first time they both came undone before one another. Lily captured Harry's every high and low. Every staggered breath and every sound he accidentally let leave his lips. The way his eyes fluttered and the way his breath felt against her skin. And everything was beautiful.  


Right there in Harry's bedroom they made love. There was literally no other way for Lily to explain it. It was like a dream that Lily never wanted to stop having. Harry was so much more than what she had ever let herself expect and even though it was spontaneous and crazy, it was all she could have hoped for.  


“That was bloody amazing...my love dove,” Harry said when they fell beside each other on the bed, hearts still beating in sync, perfect smiles on their faces.  


“I agree bright eyes,” Lily said, flipping onto her stomach to look down at him.  


“Is this going to change things?” she asked him, running her fingertips through the damp hair on his forehead.  


“Not a thing, you know why?” he asked her noticing how much she was just glowing.  


“Why?” Lily asked.  


“Because you're always going to be my best friend,” he said reaching up to kiss her nose. Lily let out a sigh of happiness because she felt on top of the world.  


“It's just even better now, cause I get to kiss you,” he said and grabbed her waist, rolling her over on top of him, so he could kiss her fully. Lily squealed at the movement and wondered how she had ever done without this before.  


And Lily wasn't even worried about a thing. She didn't think her and Harry becoming a couple would ruin their career. She had faith in them and knew Harry had the same faith.  


Their album released a week later and made it into the top five on the UK charts during the first week, but by the second week, once everyone knew they were a couple, their record entitled Bright Eyes was number one.


End file.
